Current Nationwide
Threat Level
Homeland
Security
ELEVATED
Daily Open Source Infrastructure
Report for 4 September 2009
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
For information, click here:
http://www.dhs.gov
Top Stories

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, trucks and equipment worth about $8 million
were destroyed Tuesday in an “explosive fire” at a natural gas drilling site operated by
Chesapeake Energy in Johnson County, Texas. (See item 3)

According to a Water Technology Online analysis of recent local reports, wildfires raging
near Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Canyon could have long-term adverse effects on the
drinking water supply for more than one million people. The Morris Fire destroyed at least
1,800 acres of vegetation, which now exposes the San Gabriel and Morris reservoirs to
threats from increased erosion. (See item 20)
Fast Jump Menu
PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES
● Energy
● Chemical
● Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste
● Critical Manufacturing
● Defense Industrial Base
● Dams Sector
SERVICE INDUSTRIES
● Banking and Finance
● Transportation
● Postal and Shipping
● Information Technology
● Communications
● Commercial Facilities
SUSTENANCE AND HEALTH
● Agriculture and Food
FEDERAL AND STATE
● Government Facilities
●
Water Sector
●
Emergency Services
●
Public Health and Healthcare
●
National Monuments and Icons
Energy Sector
Current Electricity Sector Threat Alert Levels: Physical: ELEVATED,
Cyber: ELEVATED
Scale: LOW, GUARDED, ELEVATED, HIGH, SEVERE [Source: ISAC for the Electricity Sector (ES−ISAC) −
[http://www.esisac.com]
1. September 3, Associated Press – (National) BP taps vast pool of crude in deepest oil
well. Nearly seven miles below the Gulf of Mexico, oil company BP has tapped into a
vast pool of crude after digging the deepest oil well in the world. The Tiber Prospect is
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expected to rank among the largest petroleum discoveries in the United States,
potentially producing half as much crude in a day as Alaska’s famous North Slope oil
field. The company’s chief of exploration on September 2 estimated that the Tiber
deposit holds between 4 billion and 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which includes
natural gas. That would be enough to satisfy U.S. demand for crude for nearly one year.
But BP does not yet know how much it can extract. “The Gulf of Mexico is proving to
be a growing oil province, and a profitable one if you can find the reserves,” said a
professor and director of Global Studies at the Bauer College of Business at the
University of Houston. The Tiber well is about 250 miles southeast of Houston in U.S.
waters. At 35,055 feet, it is as deep as Mount Everest is tall, not including more than
4,000 feet of water above it.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_discovery_8
2. September 3, Berkeley Daily Californian – (California) Electrical line explosion leads
to power outage. An underground, high-voltage electrical line exploded late
Wednesday night, causing a power outage throughout much of the area south of the UC
Berkeley campus, a Berkeley Fire Department official said at the scene. The incident
occurred at the corner of Dana Street and Bancroft Way at around 11:30 p.m., witnesses
said. She said she saw an orange light under the manhole cover at the intersection. A
PG&E technician said he expected power to be back for 95 percent of the affected area
between 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. Thursday.
Source:
http://www.dailycal.org/article/106470/electrical_line_explosion_leads_to_power_outag
e
3. September 2, Fort Worth Star-Telegram – (Texas) ‘Explosive fire’ at gas drilling site
northwest of Joshua destroys $8 million in equipment. Trucks and equipment worth
about $8 million were destroyed late September 1 in what officials described as an
“explosive fire” at a natural gas drilling site northwest of Joshua, Texas. The fire started
in one of eight Kenworth trucks parked at the site operated by Chesapeake Energy in the
3200 block of County Road 913, said an emergency management coordinator for
Johnson County. No natural gas contributed to the fire, which was reported about 11:15
p.m., said a Johnson County sheriff’s spokesman. Flames, however, spread to the other
trucks, which were parked close to each other, he said. In addition to the trucks, pumps,
blenders and other equipment used in the hydraulic fracturing of gas wells were
destroyed. Firefighters came from Joshua, Briar Oaks, Mid North, Godley, Bono,
Burleson, Cleburne and Tarrant County. They were needed to haul water and operate
long-distance nozzles and aerial ladder trucks. The blaze had to be fought at a distance
to protect the firefighters, but not because it was a natural gas drilling site. “There were
trucks in there with diesel tanks on them,” he said. “All those trucks have two or three
fuel tanks on them. We had a couple explosions.” The fire’s cause was still being
investigated, said a Chesapeake spokeswoman.
Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/texas/story/1583269.html
For another story, see item 22
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Chemical Industry Sector
4. September 2, WHAM 13 Rochester – (New York) Chemical leak on Bay Bridge,
traffic back to normal. Emergency crews responded to a report of a leaking tractortrailer on the Irondequoit Bay Bridge Wednesday about 11 a.m. A Department of
Transportation official said the truck carried calcium chlorate. Traffic heading east over
the bridge was reduced to one lane for several hours, causing significant backups.
Traffic is now back to normal.
Source: http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Chemical-Leak-on-Bay-BridgeTraffic-Back-to-Normal/J0zVAZYcOEuTlktRcw9fpQ.cspx
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Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
Nothing to report
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Critical Manufacturing Sector
5. September 3, Aviation Week – (National) FAA orders pitot tube replacements. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is instructing airlines flying the Airbus A330
and A340 to replace certain Thales Avionics pitot probes with Goodrich units to avoid
an unsafe condition caused by airspeed discrepancies. U.S. operators Delta and US
Airways will have 120 days to comply with the airworthiness directive (AD), which
becomes effective on September 8, but they have already begun or completed swapping
out the probes. The notification of a proposed AD issued by the European Aviation
Safety Agency in August said a new pitot probe designed by Thales for the A320 could
optionally be installed in the A300 and A340, but the FAA says this “has not yet
demonstrated the same level of robustness to withstand high-altitude ice crystals as
Goodrich pitot probes.” The AD results from the ongoing investigation of the Air France
Flight 332 crash on June 1, and other reports of A330/A340 airspeed indication
discrepancies while flying at high altitudes in poor weather.
Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/PITO090309.xml&headlin
e=FAA%20Orders%20Pitot%20Tube%20Replacements&channel=comm
[Return to top]
Defense Industrial Base Sector
6. September 3, Jerusalem Post – (International) F-16Is grounded for inspection after
engine fails. The Israel Air Force commander decided on September 2 to temporarily
ground all F-16I fighter jets from training operations after a jet experienced engine
failure earlier in the day and made an emergency landing. The F-16I -- called the Sufa
(storm) in the IAF -- is one of the most-advanced fighter jets in the air force, the last of
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which arrived in Israel earlier this year. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon
when the engine of an F-16I, on a routine flight, experienced an unusual engine
malfunction. The pilot decided to shut down the engine and made an emergency landing
at the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev. Israel bought 102 two-seater F-16Is,
manufactured by Lockheed Martin, in 2001. The plane reportedly has a 2,100 kilometer
combat radius. After the emergency landing, he decided to ground the planes so they
could all be inspected. Military sources said the grounding would be lifted on September
3.
Source:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804476630&pagename=JPost/JPArticle
/ShowFull
7. September 2, Defense Industry Daily – (National) Despite problems, SBIRS-High
moves ahead. The Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS)-High satellite program is a
key component of the USA’s future missile alert system, designed to give maximum
warning and monitoring of ballistic missile launches anywhere in the world. The new
satellites will replace the existing Defense Support Program (DSP) fleet. Their infared
sensors have 2 times the revisit rate and 3 times the sensitivity of DSP, while providing
better persistent coverage. The program has been beset by massive cost overruns,
technical challenges that continue to present problems, and uncertain performance.
Despite its problems, the U.S. Air Force is proceeding with the program, even as it
examines potential alternatives and supplements. Lockheed Martin is under currently
contract to produce the satellites and payloads, and Northrop Grumman is the
subcontracted payload integrator. SBIRS-High GEO are satellites. SBIRS-High HEO
are payloads hosted on spacecraft with classified launch dates. At present, two are in
service. The first SBIRS High HEO payload was declared operational in November
2008, and the first SBIRS-High GEO satellite is expected to launch in 2010, after
significant delays. According to US GAO auditors, the SBIRS program has suffered
from immature technologies, unclear requirements, unstable funding, underestimated
software complexity, poor oversight, and other problems that have resulted in billions of
dollars in cost overruns and years in schedule delays. The cost of the program has
ballooned from an original $4 billion estimate to over $12 billion.
Source: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Despite-Problems-SBIRS-High-MovesAhead-With-3rd-Satellite-Award-05467/
[Return to top]
Banking and Finance Sector
8. September 3, Wichita Eagle – (National) FDIC extends trial time for new banks. One
Wichita bank is feeling a side effect of the banking crisis that has resulted in 84 bank
failures this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. notified banks on August 28 that
it was extending the time it classifies a newly chartered bank as “de novo.” The
regulator and overseer of the industry’s deposit insurance fund said it was extending the
de novo classification from three years to seven. And it is applying that classification to
all banks that have been newly chartered in the past seven years. For RelianzBank, 2327
N. Ridge Road, that means more frequent examinations, FDIC approval for significant
-4-
business plan changes and a bit more reporting of certain items, such as capital ratios, to
the FDIC. The $35.7 million bank’s founder and CEO said it is not a major
inconvenience, even though the bank had completed its de novo period last year under
the old rules. “We’re used to being scrutinized very closely, and we’re good with it,”
said the CEO, whose bank started in December 2005. The FDIC revised its de novo
rules because about 20 percent of the bank failures in the past two years were banks that
had been chartered in the past seven years, said an FDIC spokesman.
Source: http://www.kansas.com/business/story/955351.html
9. September 2, Associated Press – (Pennsylvania) PNC has authorities shut down
‘phishing’ site. Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank says it has alerted authorities to a bogus
message sent to some of its online banking customers that was “phishing” for sensitive
account information. PNC says it doesn’t know how many people received the e-mail
September 1, which may have also gone to non-customers. The message now posted on
the bank’s Web site falsely warns customers that their online banking services have been
terminated. The message includes an Internet link and urges customers to log onto it and
supply personal information to resume their online banking services. Authorities are
investigating but have not charged anyone in connection with the phony warning.
Source:
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20090902_ap_pnchasau
thoritiesshutdownphishingsite.html
10. September 2, Computerworld – (Illinois) Court allows suit against bank for lax
security. A couple whose bank account was breached can sue their bank for its alleged
failure to implement the latest security measures designed to prevent such compromises.
In a ruling issued last month, a Judge of the District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois denied a request by Citizens Financial Bank to dismiss a negligence claim
brought against it by a couple. The Crown Point, Indiana couple, customers of the bank,
alleged that Citizens’ failure to implement up-to-date user authentication measures
resulted in the theft of more than $26,000 from their home equity line of credit. The
negligence claim was one of several claims brought against Citizens by the couple.
Although, the Judge dismissed several of the other claims, she allowed the negligence
claim against Citizens to stand. She noted that the couple had shown that a “reasonable
finder of fact could conclude that the bank breached its duty to protect Plaintiffs’
account against fraudulent access.” The ruling highlights an issue that security analysts
have been talking about for a long time: the need by companies to show due diligence in
protecting customer data against malicious and accidental compromise. Security
analysts have warned that companies that cannot prove they took adequate measures to
protect data could find themselves exposed to legal liability after a data breach.
Numerous lawsuits alleging such negligence have been filed against companies over the
last two years. Most of those cases, however, involved payment card data breaches in
which large numbers of accounts were compromised and in which victims want
compensation. Courts typically sided with the breached entities in such lawsuits, and in
many cases summarily dismissed the claims. The ruling shows that a “failure to
implement the latest and greatest in data protection measures may be found to be a
breach of expected standards of care,” warned a lawyer specializing in digital media
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law.
Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137451/Court_allows_suit_against_bank_for
_lax_security?taxonomyId=17
[Return to top]
Transportation Sector
11. September 3, Aero-News Network – (National) FAA warns against painting pitot
tubes, static vents. A certified flight instructor applicant recently arrived for his
evaluation with an aircraft with a painted pitot tube. As part of the applicant’s
evaluation, he was asked to explain the purpose of the preflight and airworthiness
requirements of the aircraft. When questioned about the painted pitot tube, the applicant
was unaware of any potential for malfunction due to the paint application. The incident
has prompted the FAA to issue an Information for Operators (InFO) advisory informing
aircraft operators of the potential for pitot-static system malfunctions after an aircraft is
repainted. Manufacturers typically deliver aircraft with unpainted pitot tubes with the
expectation that the pitot tubes will remain as delivered. Painters and/or maintenance
personnel may not be aware of the effects of inappropriately applied paint to critical
orifices and/or the performance of the system. Painting these instruments may possibly
cause unreliable instrument readings or other hazards. Persons performing maintenance
or preventive maintenance should be aware that the application of paint to surfaces
received unpainted from the manufacturer, may be an alteration to the aircraft type
design, requiring further evaluation.
Source: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=c40010ad-0501-45f4a0a0-9bcd5b57e8ea
12. September 3, WKRG 5 Mobile – (Alabama) 18-wheeler explodes on I-10 bayway. The
westbound side of the I-10 Bayway was closed for 8 hours Wednesday while crews
cleaned up the remains of an 18-wheeler. The 18-wheeler, carrying cans of AriZona Iced
Tea from Orlando to Dallas, caught fire around 10:45 a.m. and exploded into a ball of
flames a few minutes later. It burned for about 20 minutes before firefighters could
extinguish the flames. Mobile police say the truck’s brakes locked up and caused the
tires to catch on fire. The driver got out and tried to put the flames out with a fire
extinguisher. The bridge remained closed until Alabama Department of Transportation
crews removed the fiery wreckage and inspected the bridge structure. The Coast Guard
also inspected Mobile Bay for any hazardous materials.
Source: http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/18-wheeler-catches-fire-explodes-on-i10-bayway/315913/Sep-02-2009_6-48-pm/
13. September 3, KTVU 2 San Francisco – (California) Suspicious package shuts down
security checkpoint at SFO. A suspicious package was reported in a domestic terminal
at San Francisco International Airport Wednesday afternoon, a Transportation Security
Administration spokesman said. A spokesman said the package was spotted in a public
area in Terminal 3 between the American Airlines ticket counter and a security
checkpoint. The airport duty manager said at about 3:35 p.m. a bomb detection dog was
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walking by a mail bin and sensed something unusual. Authorities shut down security
checkpoint E until 5:40 p.m. when police determined the item did not pose a threat.
Police cordoned off an area of about a couple hundred feet around the security
checkpoint, but there were no evacuations. Passengers were able to use alternate security
checkpoints and the incident did not cause flight delays.
Source: http://www.ktvu.com/news/20695286/detail.html
14. September 2, Bloomberg – (National) Southwest jets cleared to fly with unapproved
parts. Southwest Airlines Co., the largest low-fare carrier, won U.S. approval to keep
flying 39 Boeing Co. 737s with unauthorized parts as long as replacements are
completed by December 24. Extra inspections also must be done, said the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), which began an inquiry after finding the parts on
August 21. Of 82 jets fitted with the unapproved hinge brackets and actuator brackets,
43 have had new units installed, a Southwest spokeswoman said yesterday. The parts
refocused attention on airline maintenance after Southwest agreed in March to a $7.5
million fine, the largest collected by the FAA, for flying jets without fuselage checks in
2006 and 2007. U.S. officials are investigating why a foot-wide hole opened in a
fuselage in July, forcing an emergency landing. Southwest said flight schedules won’t
be affected as it works on an “aggressive, yet safe” schedule to replace the parts. The
planes involved in the parts probe make up about 15 percent of Southwest’s fleet of
about 544 jets, all Boeing 737s. The brackets, which help deflect hot engine exhaust
away from the wings, were made by a company lacking FAA authorization for the work.
The FAA is continuing its investigation into Southwest’s use of the parts, which the
airline has said were supplied since 2006.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=abgBC7zYfl3E
15. September 2, Reuters – (New York) FAA to restructure New York air space. U.S.
aviation regulators plan to reorganize air space over New York’s Hudson River to
eliminate the type of crowding that contributed to a collision of a small plane and a
helicopter that killed nine people. The Federal Aviation Administration said on
Wednesday it would create altitude corridors for different aircraft to streamline traffic
around Manhattan and prevent congestion. The agency also plans to develop new
training for pilots, air traffic controllers and businesses that operate helicopters and other
aircraft in the area. A key change would require pilots to use specific radio frequencies
for the Hudson and East rivers. “These steps will significantly enhance safety in this
busy area and create crystal clear rules for all of the pilots who operate there,” an FAA
administrator said in a statement. Under current guidelines, pilots are mainly responsible
for safety when flying over the river. Navigating the river can require multiple radio
frequencies, a problem noted by crash investigators.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE58173820090902
For more stories, see items 4 and 5
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Postal and Shipping Sector
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Nothing to report
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Agriculture and Food Sector
16. September 3, Occupational Health and Safety – (Massachusetts) PSM violations land
Boston seafood Co. in OSHA’s net. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration
(OSHA) has cited Stavis Seafoods Inc. for 15 alleged serious violations of safety and
health standards at its Channel Street distribution and processing facility in Boston. The
seafood company faces a total of $47,250 in proposed fines, chiefly for deficiencies in
its process safety management (PSM) program. “The requirements of OSHA’s PSM
standard are stringent and comprehensive because a leak could have a severe or
catastrophic effect on employees,” said OSHA’s area director for Boston and
southeastern Massachusetts. OSHA’s inspection found the initial evaluation of hazards
associated with the refrigeration system had not been conducted; standard operating
procedures had not been developed for all system activities or were incomplete; the
system’s computer control procedures had not been annually certified as current and
accurate; there were no written procedures covering process changes or to maintain the
ongoing mechanical integrity of its equipment; process safety information had not been
updated to reflect changes; and the PSM program was not audited every three years, the
agency said.
Source: http://ohsonline.com/Articles/2009/09/03/Boston-Seafood-Co.-Fined.aspx
17. September 3, Associated Press – (International) Study: Bigeye tuna stocks in Pacific
threatened. Environmentalists want tougher restrictions on the industrial-scale fishing
of bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean after new research showed current measures are
failing and will do little to sustain stocks of a fish that is popular in sushi bars the world
over. The findings will intensify a debate between the multibillion dollar fishing
industry and conservationists over the best ways to protect 23 tuna species, nine of
which are threatened with extinction. Bigeye and yellowfin tuna are not in immediate
danger of being wiped out, but have been hit hard by overfishing. The fish are used
mostly for steaks, and in the case of bigeye, sushi. The western and central Pacific
region accounts for 55 percent of the world’s tuna production with a value of $4 billion
to $5 billion. In December 2008, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission,
which regulates commercial fishing from Indonesia to Hawaii, approved measures
supposed to reduce catches of bigeye tuna by 30 percent over three years and limit
catches of yellowfin tuna to 2001-2004 levels. But scientists working for the
commission found the measures were undermined by numerous territorial exemptions
from the catch limits, including coastal waters that surround archipelagic states such as
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32670738/ns/world_news-world_environment/
18. September 2, WRTV 6 Indianapolis – (Indiana) Leak forces grocery store evacuation.
A Marsh grocery store in Noblesville was evacuated Wednesday morning because of a
Freon leak. Police said that two people reported that they were lightheaded. One person
was taken to Riverview Hospital, but it was not immediately known if it was an
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employee or customer. Firefighters were ventilating the store, which was still closed as
of noon.
Source: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/20687396/detail.html
For more stories, see items 12 and 45
[Return to top]
Water Sector
19. September 3, Lexington Herald-Leader – (Kentucky) Sewage main leaks again. When
the North Elkhorn, Kentucky force main broke last month, it took nearly six days to fix
because a part had to be ordered. More than 1.1 million gallons spilled into the North
Fork of Elkhorn Creek. The estimated repair cost, including hauling away sewagesoaked soil afterward: nearly $250,000. Now it is broken again. This break, across
Liberty Road from the last one, was discovered Tuesday afternoon. It does not appear to
be as bad, and a relatively small amount of waste spilled before a pump was set up to
send the leaking material to a manhole. A repair was expected to begin at 11 p.m.
Wednesday. But two breaks just a couple of weeks apart are just the tip of the spilled
sewage story. City officials say the 24-inch pipe, built in 1980 through what was then
farm fields and pastures by Mays Construction Co. of Williamsburg, has broken nine
times in the past dozen years. Is there something fundamentally wrong here? “Clearly
there is,” said the director of the city’s Division of Water Quality. “I don’t know how I
could logically say there isn’t, because we don’t have these kind of problems with other
pipes.” When the leaking pipe was uncovered for last month’s repair, he noticed it was
not sitting on a crushed stone bed, as has been the standard for such projects since before
the line was laid. This month’s repair is happening sooner because when a repair part
was needed last month, two were ordered. It will again take place overnight because the
normal flow through the force main, about 2,000 gallons a minute, drops to 1,000 to
1,500 gallons then. The North Elkhorn Pump Station will again be shut down during the
repair.
Source: http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/story/919603.html
20. September 2, Water Technology Online – (California) CA water risk: Wildfires
denude mountains. Recent wildfires raging near Los Angeles in the San Gabriel
Canyon could have long-term adverse effects on the drinking water supply for more than
1 million people, according to recent local reports. MyFOXla.com reported on August
27: “Post-fire erosion and accelerated sedimentation — not pollution — are the primary
concerns to water officials.” The Morris Fire in San Gabriel Canyon destroyed an
estimated 1,800 acres or more of vegetation, which now exposes the man-made San
Gabriel and Morris reservoirs to threats from increased erosion, the report said. A
September 2 story in the Los Angeles Times notes of the San Gabriel Mountains, “The
San Gabriels … are powerful: capable of devastating slides, particularly when winter
rains follow fires.” Under normal conditions, the reservoirs are drained and cleared of
sediment every 10 to 15 years; the post-fire conditions, combined with winter rains,
increase the chance that the reservoirs may need to be drained and cleared of sediment
ahead of the normal schedule, myFOXla.com reported. An Angeles National Forest
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technician told myFOXla.com: “These are the fastest-growing mountains in the world, I
believe, and they are also the fastest disintegrating. … Even without the fires, you have
a tremendous amount of sediment and material coming out of the North, West and East
forks of the San Gabriel River. … That’s just in normal conditions. Now you take a fire
and wipe out all that vegetation and there’s nothing to hold the topsoil and sediment
back.” A Los Angeles County spokesman said the county is monitoring the situation.
Source: http://watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=72519
21. September 2, Lancaster Newspapers – (Pennsylvania) City flushes sewage into river.
Ninety-six times last year, during summer rains or snowmelts, raw sewage and industrial
wastewater from in and around the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania were piped directly
into the Conestoga River without being treated. Some 943 million gallons of combined
sewage and rainwater were discharged into the river and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.
That was a good year. In a wet 2006, more than 1 billion gallons of untreated water was
released into the river. Like about 800 other older cities around the country, the city is
burdened with an antiquated Civil War-era underground pipe system. Curbside stormwater drains, basement sump pumps, industrial wastewater and sewage all drain
together. During rainfalls — usually one-tenth of an inch but sometimes as little as onehundredth of an inch — storm water gushing off mostly impervious surfaces
overwhelms the system. It cannot be pumped to the sewage plant at Engleside for
pollution treatment. City officials said their tests repeatedly show that pollution and
sewage sent into the river is diluted and water-quality standards are not violated, though
levels of fecal coliform are temporarily raised. Just 1 percent of the discharge, on
average, is raw sewage, said the city’s wastewater project manager. State and federal
agencies have been sympathetic to the city’s plight. Building hundreds of miles of
separate sewage and storm-water lines under city streets is prohibitive. The agencies
have permitted the unsavory discharges while the city works on the problem. But now
the pressure is mounting. Citing violations of the federal Clean Water Act, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered the city to list how it will correct the
problem and to attach specific completion dates. The city has compiled a plan and will
meet with EPA officials within two months.
Source: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/241684
22. September 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (Puerto Rico) Shell cited again
by EPA for Clean Water Act violations in Puerto Rico. For the second time in less
than a year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cited Shell Chemical
Yabucoa located in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico for violating the federal Clean Water Act. For
this most recent violation, EPA has issued both a complaint in which it has proposed a
penalty of $153,057 and a compliance order. The complaint alleges that Shell violated
the Clean Water Act by improperly maintaining its deep ocean outfall equipment and
discharging unauthorized pollutants. The compliance order requires Shell to remedy
those violations. “Water is central to the health of Puerto Rico’s economy and its people,
and Shell’s violation of the Clean Water Act is unacceptable,” said the EPA’s acting
regional administrator. “EPA will continue to hold accountable anyone who violates the
laws that protect Puerto Rico’s valuable waters.” Shell’s petrochemical facility has a
permit from EPA to discharge treated stormwater, wastewater, and sewage-related
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wastewater under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The
permit is a requirement of the Clean Water Act, which regulates discharges into surface
waters of the United States.
Source:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/46fc564deb0d26d9852576250050dc11?Ope
nDocument
[Return to top]
Public Health and Healthcare Sector
23. September 3, WESH 2 Orlando – (Florida) Hospital fire prompts evacuation. Fire
prompted the evacuation of a floor at Florida Hospital-East Orlando on Thursday.
Hospital officials said a patient was smoking in bed on the hospital’s fourth floor when
the bed caught fire. Staff members were able to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters
removed the mattress and set up fans to try to clear the smoke. “Everybody was
prepared. The hospital staff was prepared for it. They all did a great job on their
evacuation. Everyone knew what they had to do, and everything ran real smooth,”
Orange County’s Fire Department battalion chief said. Smoke did spread throughout the
floor, and because many of the people on the floor were respiratory patients, they were
moved to other parts of the building.
Source: http://www.wesh.com/cnn-news/20703031/detail.html
24. September 3, CNN – (National) Pfizer fined $2.3 billion in health-care fraud
settlement. U.S. drug manufacturing giant Pfizer has agreed to pay a $2.3 billion
penalty for illegally promoting its pharmaceutical products, the Justice Department
announced Wednesday. The agreement is the largest health-care fraud settlement in the
department’s history, Justice officials said. Pharmacia and Upjohn Company, a Pfizer
subsidiary, has agreed to plead guilty to misbranding the anti-inflammatory arthritis
drug Bextra “with the intent to defraud or mislead,” the department announced. Bextra
was pulled from the market in 2005 at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.
Pfizer previously disclosed the $2.3 billion payment in a January filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/02/pfizer-fined-2-3-billion-in-healthcare-fraud-settlement/
25. September 2, ABC News – (National) New application aims to detect flu outbreaks
faster. In the latest use of the Internet and social media to counter the flu and infectious
diseases, researchers from MIT and Harvard said Tuesday that iPhone users have a new
means of monitoring the spread of swine flu and other disease outbreaks. The new
iPhone application, “Outbreaks Near Me,” attempts to track the spread of flu outbreaks
by monitoring social media and news reports online, using an existing resource called
HealthMap, started in 2006. The app is a joint venture between MIT’s Media Lab and
Children’s Hospital Boston. “The idea is to try to put public health information in the
hands of a greater number of people,” said HealthMap’s cofounder, who is an assistant
professor in the hospital’s informatics program. He said about 5,000 people downloaded
the app on its first day. A viewing of the app itself reveals it may not have entirely
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escaped some of the criticisms of past flu-tracking systems. It had an alert for the
Washington, D.C., area, Wednesday morning, for instance, although a closer look
revealed that the alert was triggered by an article about a hypothetical outbreak in
schools in a local newspaper.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8472031
26. August 31, Reuters – (Massachusetts) Europe inspectors cite Genzyme plant
deficiencies. Genzyme Corp said inspectors working on behalf of European regulators
have identified one “major” deficiency and several lesser ones at the company’s Allston
Landing manufacturing plant. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company
released the news on its website on August 28. It said it would respond to the inspectors
within 15 days with a plan and timetable for addressing their concerns, after which the
inspectors would submit a final report to the European Medicines Agency, the European
drugs watchdog. A spokesman for Genzyme said the company will not have to cease
production of drugs made at the plant, which is located in the Allston neighborhood of
Boston. The nature of the findings was not immediately detailed. Genzyme, which
makes drugs to treat rare and chronic diseases, was forced to temporarily halt production
at the plant in June due to a virus contamination. The shutdown of the 13-year-old plant
caused a shortage of Cerezyme, a drug to treat Gaucher disease, and Fabrazyme, for
Fabry disease.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssPharmaceuticals%20%20Generic%20&%20Specialty/idUSN3143048120090831?sp=true
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Government Facilities Sector
27. September 2, KLTV 7 Tyler – (Texas) 19-year-old bomb threat suspect arrested. On
August 28, a bomb threat was made a third time to Henderson High School in
Henderson. “We had been checking on the previous bomb threats digging up evidence
like phone calls [and] talking to people,” said a Longview police spokesman. “This
came in this morning and it accelerated our efforts.” Similar to August 28, Henderson
High School students were evacuated from the building on Tuesday after the school
received yet another bomb threat. “The caller stated there would be an alarm set to go
off,” said the spokesman. “For the third time you got the teachers, you know. They have
their lesson plans and a schedule to go by. Now, they have to try and make it up.” Police
say this time they were able to trace the call, and witnesses with information came
forward with tips. “I think people got tired enough,” said the police spokesman.
“They’re involved in this and they’re inconvenienced [so] they will generally speak to
us about it.” And, speaking up is why a warrant got written up. Court officials confirmed
that a suspect from Henderson was arrested on a third degree felony charge of
Terroristic Threat, for allegedly calling in the bomb threats.
Source: http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=11028356
28. September 2, Reuters – (International) Teens planned “UK Columbine” massacre,
jury told. Two teenagers plotted to go on a killing spree at their school in northern
England in a chilling imitation of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the
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United States, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. The two suspects, an 18 year-old and a
16 year-old, planned to plant a bomb in a shopping center and then murder pupils and
teachers at Audenshaw High School, the jury at their trial was told. The prosecutor told
Manchester Crown Court that the suspects had plotted the attack, fantasized about the
killings and agreed to see through their plans, the Press Association reported. Both
defendants pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to cause
explosions between November 11, 2007 and March 15 this year. “They set about
planning to detonate a bomb, some form of improvised explosive device, at a shopping
center in North Manchester, known as Crown Point North,” the prosecutor said. He said
they then planned to travel to their high school “and embark upon a killing spree in
which they would murder teachers and pupils alike before killing themselves.”
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5814R320090902
29. September 2, Grand Rapids Press – (Michigan) Georgetown Township officials
receive threats after favoring grocery store plan. The fight over a proposed Family
Fare grocery store has turned ugly with four Township Board members who voted for
the plan receiving anonymous letters threatening their families and friends. A supervisor
said the letters were received Tuesday, with one addressed to the treasurer arriving at the
township offices and others to himself and the ones to the other two board members
arriving at their homes. The supervisor said the letters bore a Battle Creek return address
and a Grand Rapids postmark. They were handed over to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s
Department for investigation. A police spokesman said the department is taking the
threats seriously. “We have a pretty close working relationship with the U.S. Postal
Inspectors office, and we will put them in the loop,” he said. “Anytime a threat is
expressed we have concerns.”
Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/grandrapids/index.ssf/2009/09/georgetown_township_officials_2.html
[Return to top]
Emergency Services Sector
30. September 3, KCTV 5 Lawrence – (Missouri) Equipment stolen from KC fire station.
Helmets, jackets and pants were stolen from a Kansas City fire station early Wednesday
morning. Police said the items were stolen from Station 14 off North Brighton Avenue.
The thieves took equipment and rifled through kitchen drawers. The loss is estimated
between $5,000 to $6,000.
Source: http://www.kctv5.com/news/20703726/detail.html
31. September 3, Macon Telegraph – (Georgia) Five teens charged in melee at YDC. Five
17-year-olds involved in a riot at the Bill E. Ireland Youth Development Campus in
Milledgeville, Georgia have been charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction,
according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff said felony charges will
be filed against a number of the other male juveniles who took over a building at the
YDC and kept employees from leaving Tuesday afternoon. A state Department of
Juvenile Justice spokesman said an internal investigation is being conducted to
determine how the melee began and to see if department protocols were followed.
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Tuesday’s melee began when a few youths rushed a juvenile corrections officer and took
his keys about 3:30 p.m. The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries.
Source: http://www.macon.com/local/story/830943.html
32. September 3, KRGV 5 Rio Grande – (Texas) Stolen police SUV poses pseudo cop
threat. San Benito, Texas authorities say a stolen police vehicle with a police uniform
inside poses serious security problems. Authorities are worried suspects could pose as
pseudo cops, and try to pull people over. On Wednesday, the officer’s SUV was stolen
from his home.
Source: http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Stolen-Police-SUV-Poses-Pseudo-CopThreat/3tGLseSKL0m3ipi9wISLew.cspx
33. September 2, KUSA 9 Denver – (Colorado) Budget cuts to force release of thousands
of inmates. Colorado officials plan the early release of 15 percent of inmates in state
prisons to help slash $320 million from the state budget. The cuts that took effect
Tuesday call for the release of 3,500 of the 23,000 inmates over two years, saving the
state about $45 million, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman said. An additional
2,600 parolees, or 21 percent of those currently on parole, will be released from intense
supervision. Prisoners eligible for early release are those within six months of their
mandatory release date. Those eligible for early parole release must have served at least
half of their supervised term. Sex offenders do not qualify. Other offenders, including
those who committed violent crimes, will undergo more rigorous reviews. No staff
members are being cut. Money will be saved by reducing the number of inmates sent to
private prisons.
Source: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=122467&catid=339
34. September 2, New Orleans Times Picayune – (Louisiana) Emergency workers get
better radio network. Emergency responders working during a disaster can now
receive and send a signal on their portable radios throughout 95 percent of hurricaneprone south Louisiana, the director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and
Emergency Preparedness told a legislative committee in Baton Rouge on Tuesday. And
that level of radio coverage for emergency communications should extend through the
entire state by the end of the year. He said that the state has made strides to broaden
radio coverage for emergencies by acquiring three mobile command posts with
telephone, radio, computer and teleconferencing capabilities, pointing out that the
number of radio towers has also been increased from 46 sites statewide in the days
before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to 117 now. Documents distributed to committee
members showed that although south Louisiana has 95 percent portable coverage now, a
little more than 82 percent of the entire state is now covered; north and central Louisiana
have 68 percent coverage but that number changes almost daily as more towers come on
line, officials said. Radio communications was a major problem during Hurricane
Katrina but the state has since shifted to a better radio network and has increased the
number of signal towers.
Source:
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2009/09/emergency_workers_get_better_r.htm
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l
[Return to top]
Information Technology
35. September 3, The Register – (International) Snow Leopard forces silent Flash
downgrade. Apple has bundled a vulnerable version of Flash with Snow Leopard. As a
result, Mac users who upgrade their operating system will be left exposed to Adobe
Flash-based attacks -- even if they had previously kept up to date with patches. The
latest version of Flash Player for Mac is version 10.0.32.18. Applying Snow Leopard
loads up the older, vulnerable version 10.0.23.1 of the software, irrespective of whatever
version a user was previously running. Worse still, users receive no indication that the
change has taken place, as illustrated in a video by net security firm Sophos. “Mac users
are not informed that Snow Leopard has downgraded their version of Flash without
permission, and that they are now exposed to a raft of potential attacks and exploits
which have been targeted on Adobe’s software in recent months,” writes a senior
technology consultant at Sophos and a Mac user. “Software suppliers can only include
the latest version of bundled applications at the time the software development cycle
goes gold but the least that Apple should have done is checked the latest version of
Flash installed before downgrading it. Doing this without notice is doubly bad,” he
added.
Source:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/03/snow_leopard_forced_flash_downgrade/
36. September 3, Washington Times – (National) Natural disaster could enable hackers.
A new security assessment of the nation’s private-sector computer networks from the
Department of Homeland Security says some of the most worrisome vulnerabilities
reflect the open structure of the Internet itself. The assessment, produced jointly by the
Department and private companies that own much of the country’s informationtechnology infrastructure, also says that a major natural disaster such as an earthquake
or a pandemic could be a “force multiplier” for any cyber-attacker, because it likely
would impede the ability of officials and IT specialists to respond. The concern is that “a
malicious actor ... could wait for a natural disaster and then use it as a force multiplier
for an attack,” said a security strategist at Seattle-based Microsoft Inc., to the
Washington Times. The strategist, who helped produce the assessment, said the concern
was not the damage such a disaster could do to the physical infrastructure. “The focus ...
was more on the disruption of human resources and the ability to detect, respond to and
recover from [a] cyber-incident during a natural event.” The assessment was the firstever attempt to objectively assess risks to the nation’s critical IT networks, said a
chairman of the Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council, one of the
industry groups that worked with the Department of Homeland Security to produce the
report. “These networks underlie everything we do,” said the chairman, who also is a
vice president at the computer firm Juniper Networks. He noted that previous risk
assessments for critical infrastructure had focused on the protection of physical assets
such as cables and cell towers.
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Source: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/03/natural-disaster-could-multiplyhacker-dangers/
37. September 2, Kaspersky Lab Security News Service – (International) New unpatched
flaw surfaces in SQL server. There is an unpatched flaw in Microsoft SQL Server that
could enable an attacker to access users’ passwords on the database server. The
vulnerability is in SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008. The SQL Server vulnerability was
discovered last fall by database-security vendor Sentrigo, which then reported the
problem to Microsoft. But the software giant did not consider the problem serious
enough to warrant a patch, Sentrigo officials said, so the weakness has remained
unpatched for nearly a year. Sentrigo has released a free software tool that will address
the problem, though it does not patch the vulnerability. The tool, called Passwordizer,
erases the cleartext passwords from the database server. In a statement, Microsoft
officials said the company is not planning to patch the flaw and does not see it as a
problem that requires a security update. The flaw lies in the way that SQL Server
handles user passwords. By looking at the process memory, an administrator can see
other users’ passwords in cleartext. However, in order to see the process memory dump,
a user would have to have administrator rights already, a condition that limits the
severity of the bug. The flaw can be exploited remotely in SQL Server 2000 and 2005,
but in SQL Server 2008 Microsoft made a change to make it more difficult for
administrators to access the memory, so an attacker would need local access to the
machine in that case.
Source: http://threatpost.com/blogs/new-unpatched-flaw-surfaces-sql-server-102
Internet Alert Dashboard
To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US−CERT at soc@us−cert.gov or visit their
Website: http://www.us-cert.gov.
Information on IT information sharing and analysis can be found at the IT ISAC (Information Sharing and Analysis Center)
Website: https://www.it-isac.org/.
[Return to top]
Communications Sector
38. September 3, Charleston Daily Mail – (West Virginia) Man accused of taking out
Internet service in Elkview. A summons has been issued for an Elkview man accused
of cutting a cable line and causing an Internet outage. A Suddenlink Communications
supervisor contacted the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department on August 31 to file a
complaint against the suspect, 58, of Five Mile Fork Road. The supervisor told a deputy
that he had been sent to the area to repair a cable line running across the suspect’s
property after the suspect called Suddenlink and complained of a sagging line going
across his yard, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court. The
supervisor was unable to fix the line and argued with the man before leaving the home,
the complaint said. The supervisor said that when he went back to the man’s home the
next day the sagging line had been cut and that the suspect told him that he would cut
the line again if the supervisor put up another one, the complaint said. The supervisor
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said the suspect made comments that he would shut down the entire system. Not a half
an hour later, Internet service in the area was down because of line damage, the
complaint said.
Source: http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200909021015
39. September 3, Agence France-Presse – (International) Millions in Australia lose
international Internet link. Australia’s major Internet provider Telstra said it lost
contact with the rest of the world on September 3 when its international gateway
crashed, crippling its fixed, mobile and wireless connections. Millions of customers
were for an hour unable to access internationally-hosted sites or local sites with
international content, sparking mass frustration. “Because of an issue with our
international gateway, it couldn’t find the domain names of websites, so that meant
people couldn’t access the net if it was an international site or one with international
content,” a Telstra spokesman told the AAP newswire. The connection was rebooted
and the problem rectified within an hour, but many mobile phone and computer users
vented their ire online.
Ssource: http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20090903-165540.html
40. September 3, TG Daily – (National) U.S. Telcos call for lower broadband speeds. U.S.
telcos have hit on an idea to provide universal broadband to every U.S. citizen; they are
calling on the government to define broadband as anything over 768 Kbps downstream
and 200 Kbps upstream. The submissions, from AT&T, Comcast, Verizon
Communications, and Verizon Wireless, were filed with the Federal Communications
Commission following a request for information. The FCC is under pressure from the
U.S. Presidential Administration, which is seeking ways to extend broadband services to
both unserved Americans living in rural areas and to make broadband affordable for
those living in urban areas. In comparison to what the U.S. telcos want to provide, the
top three countries are Japan with 92.8 Mbps, Korea with 80.8 Mbps, and France with
51 Mbps. AT&T insisted that the broadband definition must include ‘those services that
Americans actually need, want and can afford’. It claimed that most Americans did not
want voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or streaming video, which require faster
speeds.
Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/43859/103/
41. September 1, Broadcasting & Cable – (California) FCC to help California stations.
The FCC’s Media Bureau has outlined procedures it has put in place to help TV and
radio stations continue to reach over-the-air viewers if their towers are “compromised”
by the California wildfires. In a public notice issued late Monday, the bureau provided
staff contacts for affected broadcasters and explained what avenues were available for
expedited applications, waivers of standard commission policy and other help. Those
include cutting red tape for applications for special temporary authority to operate the
station at variance with its FCC-authorized operation, allowing radio and TV stations to
erect emergency antennas without first clearing it with the commission, allowing AM
radio stations to remain at full power throughout the night based on the “good faith”
assurance that it is necessary to protect life and property, and, if necessary, waivers of
the usual notification timelines for stations that have to discontinue operations. The
- 17 -
waiver to allow emergency antennas for any station knocked off the air by fires is good
through October 31. The waiver for AM nighttime operation is good through September
11.
Source: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/339108FCC_To_Help_California_Stations.php
[Return to top]
Commercial Facilities Sector
42. September 3, Associated Press – (California) Flareup of LA-area fire prompts new
evacuations. Firefighters brought a sprawling wildfire near Los Angeles under greater
control Thursday, despite a flare-up in a remote canyon that prompted 15 to 20 nearby
homes to be evacuated. The blaze was 38 percent contained Thursday morning, up from
28 percent the previous day. The fire now measures 144,000 acres, or 226 square miles,
and is one of the largest wildfires in Southern California history. Some 12,000 homes in
foothill communities below the fire’s southeastern edge officially remained threatened,
although other communities farther west that were under siege for days were out of
danger. The wildfire, now in its eighth day, destroyed 64 homes, burned three people
and left two firefighters dead. During the night, a firefighter injured his leg when he fell
in a 20-foot ravine and was taken to a hospital by a medical helicopter, officials said. A
deputy incident commander said the fire was “human-caused,” meaning it could have
been started by anything from a dropped cigarette to a spark from something like a lawn
mower. Full containment is expected September 15.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gZ8ZljJ4JAGBVX44URTwVV53E0QD9AFSG5O0
43. September 3, Chillicothe Gazette – (Ohio) 2 injured when RV explodes. Two women
are in a Columbus hospital after sustaining severe burns in an apparent propane
explosion at the Ross County Fairgrounds Wednesday. A sheriff said the explosion
occurred at 7:52 p.m. in a motor home parked in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds
for the annual Easyriders Rodeo. Officials said the women had closed up the motor
home and were preparing to cook food when the explosion occurred. When firefighters
arrived at the scene, one victim was standing outside the motor home, while the other
was inside. The explosion blew the windows out of the motor home and did extensive
damage to the roof. No surrounding camp sites were damaged, no other injuries at the
scene were reported and no hazardous material leaks were reported.
Source: http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20090903/NEWS01/909030305/1002
44. September 2, St. Petersburg Times – (Florida) Rays worker arrested for fake bomb. A
Tampa Bay Rays employee was arrested before Wednesday’s Boston Red Sox game and
accused of planting what appeared to be a fake bomb at Tropicana Field, according to
police. The man was arrested on a charge of planting a hoax device. He is a mechanic
with the team, according to police, and built and hid the device as part of a “practical
joke.” The device was found in a cabinet near Gate 2 by lawn maintenance workers
around 2:10 p.m., and that area is closed to the team, St. Petersburg police said. The
device was a box that was taped to a shelf, had wires sticking out and emitted a
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“beeping” sound. It was built to look like an explosive device, police said. Officers were
summoned, and the man quickly came forward to explain that the device was a hoax.
Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20090902/NEWS/909025060?Title=RaysWorker-Arrested-for-Fake-Bomb
45. September 1, Associated Press – (Nevada) Two convicted in Vegas bombing get life
sentences. A Nevada jury chose life in prison without parole Tuesday for two illegal
immigrants found guilty in a bombing that killed a hot dog stand vendor in a Las Vegas
casino parking lot in 2007. The sentencing verdicts were read in Clark County District
Court. The jury reached the middle sentence for first-degree murder in the May 7, 2007
slaying of a 24-year-old man outside the pyramid-shaped Luxor resort. Each of the
assailants was also found guilty of attempted murder, possession of an explosive or
incendiary device and transportation or receipt of an explosive. Those charges carry a
combined possible 58 years in state prison. The pipe bomb was built and hid in a 24ounce 7-Eleven coffee cup planted atop the victim’s car. It was powered by a 9-volt
battery and activated with a motion switch. The blast blew off the victim’s hand and sent
fragments across the top deck of the two-story parking structure. The victim was killed
by a piece of shrapnel to the forehead. “It was pure luck we’re not here on a double
murder,” the chief deputy Clark County district attorney told jurors Monday. “That
bomb had the capability to kill anyone within 300 feet.”
Source: http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/1418639.html
For another story, see item 28
[Return to top]
National Monuments & Icons Sector
46. September 3, Honolulu Advertiser – (Hawaii) Hawaii park firefighters helping out in
California. Some National Park Service employees in Hawai’i are donning their
firefighter hats to help battle raging wildfires in California that have engulfed more than
140,000 acres and destroyed 62 structures. Firefighters on the 20-man crew, which
passed through Honolulu Airport yesterday, have other park service jobs but are trained
to fight fires and do so when duty calls. The team members are from four national parks:
Hawai’i Volcanoes, Haleakala, Pu’ukohola Heiau and World War II Valor in the Pacific
(which includes Pearl Harbor sites). They will work in California for 21 days, on 16hour shifts every day, said a National Park Service fire management officer for the
Pacific islands network. “They’re a ‘hand’ crew,” he added “Where they go, you can’t
get a vehicle. They either fly in or hike in. That’s what you use a hand crew for, for
inaccessible areas.”
Source:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090903/NEWS01/909030338/Hawai+i+pa
rk+firefighters+helping+out+in+California
47. September 3, Associated Press – (West Virginia) Roof collapse destroys historic WVa
church. St. John’s Baptist Church in Stotesbury had been vacant since it closed around
1990. The roof of the former African-American church caved into the building on
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Saturday. The Raleigh County landmarks commission president on Wednesday urged
owners of historic properties to contact the commission if their structures need to be
stabilized, restored or preserved. Raleigh County preservation officials say the collapse
of a former coal camp church shows that historic properties will be lost if they are not
preserved. A Gulf Preservation Authority spokeswoman said federal stimulus money is
available for restoration efforts. She urged communities to work together to get such
structures on the National Historic Register of Historic Places.
Source:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2009/september/03/roofcollapse-destroys-historic-wva-church.html
[Return to top]
Dams Sector
48. September 3, Evansville Courier and Press – (Indiana) Inspectors making sure levees
will keep city dry. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is joining forces with the
Evansville, Indiana Levee Authority this week to assess the integrity of the city’s 27
miles of flood protection levees and their pumping stations. The Evansville levee
system, begun after the disastrous 1937 flood, is designed to protect the city from the
floodwaters of the Ohio River and is divided into seven sections. The Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began calling for the certification of levee
systems throughout the country in 2007 in response to levee failures at New Orleans
during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. By FEMA regulations, levee systems must provide
protection from an annual 1 percent flood chance, often referred to as a 100-year flood.
FEMA also uses the information to formulate new flood insurance rate maps. The
superintendent of the Evansville Levee Authority, said monthly inspections are made to
the system, but he added that the FEMA certification inspection process is much more
intense and expensive. The inspection process alone will cost the Levee Authority
$408,000. The 28 Corps engineers operate in teams that review the geotechnical,
structural, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic aspects of the levees.
Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/03/inspectors-making-sure-leveeswill-keep-city-dry/
49. September 2, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – (National)
Delaware River States agree to lower reservoir levels during repairs. Pennsylvania’s
Environmental Protection Secretary announced on September 2 that Pennsylvania and
other Delaware River states have negotiated an agreement with New York City that will
reduce reservoir levels in the river basin to reduce the risk of flooding and benefit
fisheries during the temporary shutdown of a major water supply tunnel that connects
several of the city’s reservoirs. The Rondout to West Branch Tunnel in the upper
Delaware River Basin will close for a major repair project, and the city has agreed to
divert as much as 50 billion gallons of water from reservoirs to the Delaware River
between September 2009 and May 2010. In addition to benefiting the freshwater fishery
in the river and creating more reservoir storage capacity, the increased flows will allow
Pennsylvania and other states in the basin to test a new weather and river forecasting
tool that was recently developed by the National Weather Service. The system will
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incorporate long-range weather forecasting and weekly monitoring to determine the
amount of water to be released to maintain adequate reservoir levels and to provide
sufficient flows to support aquatic life and recreational uses. Releases from the city
reservoirs will be higher when they are full and before wet weather arrives, further
reducing reservoir levels below those established under previous agreements.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS196785+02-Sep2009+PRN20090902
[Return to top]
DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report Contact Information
About the reports − The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a daily [Monday through
Friday] summary of open−source published information concerning significant critical infrastructure
issues. The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is archived for ten days on the Department of
Homeland Security Website: http://www.dhs.gov/iaipdailyreport
Contact Information
Content and Suggestions:
Send mail to NICCReports@dhs.gov or contact the DHS Daily
Report Team at (202) 312-3421
Subscribe to the Distribution List:
Visit the DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report and follow
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Contact DHS
To report physical infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact the National Infrastructure
Coordinating Center at nicc@dhs.gov or (202) 282−9201.
To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US−CERT at soc@us−cert.gov
or visit their Web page at www.us-cert.gov.
Department of Homeland Security Disclaimer
The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a non−commercial publication intended to educate and
inform personnel engaged in infrastructure protection. Further reproduction or redistribution is subject to original
copyright restrictions. DHS provides no warranty of ownership of the copyright, or accuracy with respect to the
original source material.
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